Legacy Metrics

1956 BMW 502 V8

61-595roadGermany

A 1956 BMW 502 3.2-litre V8 saloon, registered '888 JMT', and reportedly one of only twelve right-hand drive examples produced. First registered to AFN Ltd — possibly as the Earls Court Motor Show display car — it has since been developed for historic competition, appearing regularly in the St. Mary's Trophy at the Goodwood Revival, where it has been driven by notable figures including Marc Surer and 1980 Formula 1 World Champion Alan Jones. A period-correct 2.6-litre V8 is currently fitted following an engine rebuild; the original unit is retained.

Ownership

  1. 2019-02-23Auction sale
    Estimate £25,000 – £30,000

    Iconic Auctioneers catalogue lot →

  2. 1956 →Factory delivery
    AFN Ltd
    full documentation

    Listed as the first registered keeper in the original buff logbook; the car may have been used as the Earls Court Motor Show exhibit before entering private ownership.

  3. Date unknownAcquisition unknown
    Previous owner documented in 1975 letter
    partial documentation

    A letter dating from 1975 authored by this owner survives with the car, detailing various parts and registration documentation.

  4. Date unknownPrivate sale
    Current vendor
    partial documentation

    Purchased directly from BMW dealer Richard Cound as a road car; during this ownership the car was converted to competition use and campaigned at Goodwood. The vendor operates a BMW racing team and has personally overseen the car's preparation and maintenance.

Competition

  1. Goodwood Revival
    St. Mary's Trophy, Goodwood Revival
    Driver: Marc Surer

    The car has been a regular entrant in this event over multiple years, driven at various times by several well-known racing drivers including Marc Surer and Alan Jones.

  2. Goodwood Revival
    St. Mary's Trophy, Goodwood Revival
    Driver: Alan Jones

    Alan Jones, 1980 Formula 1 World Champion, was among the drivers to race the car at Goodwood.

Maintenance & restoration

  1. Engine rebuild

    The original engine suffered damage during hard racing at Goodwood; it was replaced with a period-correct 2.6-litre V8 freshly rebuilt and having covered only approximately 250 miles since completion. The original block and remanufactured components — including pistons, liners, and valves — are retained with the car, allowing future reinstatement of the original unit.

    The vendor's BMW racing team oversaw the car's competition preparation and ongoing maintenance.

Are you the owner of this car?

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Each chassis record is compiled from public auction archives and links to its source material. Ownership, competition and maintenance entries are extracted from those catalogue listings by an LLM, which can make mistakes — please contact us with any corrections. The summary is Legacy Metrics’ own writing; we do not reproduce catalogue text.

“Full” and “partial” documentation labels indicate how well each entry is corroborated in the underlying sources, not an audit of the car’s physical paperwork. Names of recent or living owners are withheld for privacy.